Phu Quoc - November 30th

Today we actually have an early start, as the resort are organising a weekly trip to a remote deserted beach.  My plans for a lie in are thwarted, and so we get up at 07:00 for an hour drive across the island.  The island is actually bigger than it looks on the maps, but the poor roads don’t help you cross it that quickly.

Eventually we get to the fishing village where we board our boat, 13 of us (and a baby) on the deck of the boat.  After about 30 minutes we stop at a swimming point in the middle of the sea where most people get off and swim (but of course not me).  Then we move on to the beach, but not before we stop alongside a lone man fishing in his own boat to buy lunch.  He has caught about a dozen squid, and we buy the lot.

We get to our destination beach by about 10:00.  We have two hours on the beach to swim, sunbathe, etc, before Peter, our host and chef extraordinaire back at Freedomland, calls us for dinner.  As well as the squid, which is perfectly done with a side dressing of local pepper, we have crabs (caught on the beach), and barbequed pork and chicken kebabs.  An amazing feast on the beach.  Afterwards we have another hour or so to relax, before we head back to the boat and back home. 

The evenings in Freedomland are actually quite the same.  They start with us all congregating around the bar and having a drink or two.  At 19:00 Peter calls us to the big communal table where they start serving the starters.  And I say starters because there are two starters each evening.  Then we get the mains.  And again I say mains, because there are also two.  Usually one meat and one fish.  And there is finally a desert.  And all 25 get fed, and even vegetarians are catered for.  Watching the team at work cooking it all is amazing.